The following events occurred in August 1933:
August 1, 1933 (Tuesday)
The Blue Eagle emblem of the National Recovery Administration was displayed publicly for the first time as the National Recovery Act went into effect."Stores Here Sign, Jobs for Hundreds", Milwaukee Journal, August 1, 1933, p1 Mohandas K. Gandhi, leader of the peaceful independence movement against the British administrators of India, was arrested the day after calling for individuals to boycott liquor and foreign cloth. He was taken to Sabarmati Jail and then transferred to Yervada Jail in Poona. He would be released on August 23 after beginning a hunger strike.Stanley Wolpert, Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi (Oxford University Press, 2002) p172 Sukarno, leader of the independence movement against the Netherlands administrators of Indonesia (at the time, the Dutch East Indies), was re-arrested after 19 months out of prison, and sent back to the Sukamiskin Penitentiary at Bandung.Angus McIntyre, Indonesian Presidency: The Shift From Personal Toward Constitutional Rule (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005) p41 Istanbul University was opened, with only 35 percent of the faculty who had worked at the Darulfunun the day before. Most of the new department heads were German-speaking professors.George Vlahakis, Imperialism And Science: Social Impact And Interaction (ABC-CLIO, 2006) p111 Germany conducted its first executions of Communists, sending Bruno Tesch, Walter Möller, Karl Wolff and August Lütgens to the guillotine at Hamburg.Jan Valtin, Out of the Night (Alliance Book Corporation, 1941, reprinted by AK Press, 2004) p425 The Caledon Bay crisis began in Australia's Northern Territory, when police constable Albert McColl was killed by a spear. McColl was on Woodah Island, investigating the killings of five Japanese fishermen and two white beachcombers by the aboriginal Yolngu people, who had accused the victims of raping Yolngu women. McColl's murder, apparently by a Yolngu named Tuckiar for the rape of Tuckiar's wife, led to fears among the white residents of the NT of an aboriginal uprising. Five of the Yolngu, including Tuckiar, turned themselves in and went to trial. Public outcry over the racist attitude of the judge, led in November 1934 to Tuckiar's release. Tuckiar vanished the day after leaving jail.Ken White, True Stories of the Top End (Indra Publishing, 2005) pp133-134 Born: Dom DeLuise, American actor and comedian; in Brooklyn (died 2009) Ko Un, South Korean poet; in Gunsan Meena Kumari, actress and poet, in Bombay, British India (died 1972)
August 2, 1933 (Wednesday) The Soviet White Sea Baltic Canal, a 141-mile (227 km) waterway, officially opened. Constructed using forced labor, it connected the White Sea with the Baltic Sea by way of Lake Onega. Joseph Stalin was present at the dedication, and Soviet newspapers printed edicts from the Central Committee of the Communist Party, listing those canal workers "who had received commendations and reduced or commuted sentences".Cynthia Ann Ruder, Making History for Stalin: The Story of the Belomor Canal (University Press of Florida, 1998) pp33–34 Once completed, however, the Canal "was never of much use".Robert Conquest, The Dragons Of Expectation: Reality And Delusion In The Course Of History (W. W. Norton & Company, 2005) pp108-109 New prison regulations were introduced in Germany's largest state, Prussia, and would become the rule nationwide on May 14, 1934. Among the changes were the punishment of four weeks of verschärfter Arrest ("aggravated detention") in which bad behavior meant four weeks in a cell with no bed, no chance of exercise, and a diet that was, literally, bread and water. Hans Kerrl, at the time the Prussian Minister of Justice, told the press that the tougher rules were designed "to awaken the unqualified desire in the prisoner never to return into such a house".Nikolaus Wachsmann, Hitler's Prisons: Legal Terror in Nazi Germany (Yale University Press, 2004) pp80–81
August 3, 1933 (Thursday) The collapse of the Castlewood Dam on Colorado's Cherry Creek, sent a 20 foot high wall of water through Denver, Colorado, as well as the towns of Parker and Sullivan. There was an hour warning before the 6:15 deluge, and only two people were killed, while another 5,000 were evacuated."5,000 Flee as Flood Rolls Into Denver", Milwaukee Journal, August 3, 1933, p1 For the first time in thirty years, the "Great White Spot" appeared on the planet Saturn. Amateur astronomer and actor Will Hay became the first person on Earth to see the event, which lasted for four weeks and allowed an accurate measure of Saturn's rotational period of 10 hours and 13 minutes.David M. Harland, Mission to Saturn: Cassini and the Huygens Probe (Springer, 2002) p31-32; "Huge Spot Appears at Equator of Saturn", New York Times, August 6, 1933 The New York Yankees streak of consecutive games without a shutout ended with a 7–0 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics and pitcher Lefty Grove. The Yankees had scored at least one run in every game since August 2, 1931"Lefty Grove Hands Yanks First Shutout Since Aug. 2, 1931", Milwaukee Journal, August 4, 1933, p7 when the Yankees beat the Red Sox 9–8. The record of 308 games still stands, with the second longest streak being 212 by the Milwaukee Brewers from 1978 to 1979."National League Roundup", New York Times, May 25, 2001; Daniel J. Brush, et al., Major League Baseball: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports (Casemate Publishers, 2009) p68 Died: Arthur Collins, 69, American recording artist, most famous for his 1899 phonographic record "Hello! Ma Baby"
August 4, 1933 (Friday) A tear gas attack, on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, sent hundreds of brokers scattering and forced the suspension of trading. The sudden closing was the first since September 16, 1920, when 30 people were killed by a bomb at the Exchange."TEAR GAS HALTS STOCK TRADING"", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 4, 1933, p1
August 5, 1933 (Saturday) The day after a clash between soldiers at the border between Iraq and Syria, Iraqi General Bakr Sidqi ordered the Simele massacre of men of the Assyrian minority. The National Labor Board was created by order of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to handle labor disputes arising under the National Industrial Recovery Act. The NLB was ineffective and would be dissolved on July 9, 1934, and later replaced by the National Labor Relations Board. American dancer Sally Rand, famous for her "fan dance", was arrested by Chicago police detective Dennis H. Parkerson, who said that, during the performance, "Miss Rand's entire body from her head to her foot was revealed nude... with the exception of sandals." Died: Fred Beell, 57, German-American professional wrestler and police officer, was shot and killed in the line of duty.
August 6, 1933 (Sunday) Samuel Untermyer, a New York City lawyer, launched his campaign on behalf of the "World Jewish Economic Federation", announced a worldwide boycott of German exports and services, to "undermine the Hitler regime and bring the German people to their senses, by destroying their export trade on which their very existence depends."Sami Hadawi, Bitter Harvest: A Modern History of Palestine (Interlink Books, 1991) p209
August 7, 1933 (Monday) In the Simele massacre, more than 3,000 Assyrian Iraqis were killed by Iraq government troops in the Dohuk (Syriac ܢܘܗܕܪܐ) and Mosul (Syriac ܢܝܢܘܐ) districts. Police in Havana killed 21 people and wounded another 150 after Cuba's President Gerardo Machado ordered law enforcement to disperse crowds."Cuban Police Shoot 171; Havana Is City of Terror", Milwaukee Journal, August 8, 1933, p1 French flyers Paul Codos and Maurice Rossi set a new record for the furthest non-stop trip in an airplane, landing in Rayak, in Lebanon (at that time, part of Syria), having gone 5,700 miles in the 59 hours since they had taken off from New York City on at 2:00 am three days earlier. Bound for Iran, the men would have traveled even further, but a gasoline leak caused them to end the flight early."FLIERS SET DISTANCE MARK"", Pittsburgh Press, August 7, 1933, p1 Died: Park Kyung-won, 32, first female Korean pilot, in a plane crash Felix Fechenbach, 39, German Jewish journalist, killed by the Nazi SS.
August 8, 1933 (Tuesday) The First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Miami, founded by William Walker Jr., received the first charter ever issued under the 1932 Federal Home Loan Bank Act, thus making it the first "S & L" in the United States.Miami News , August 13, 1958 The institution later renamed itself AmeriFirst, and on its fiftieth anniversary in 1983, announced that it was ridding itself of the charter so that it could become a bank."Miami's first chartered S & L to dump charter on anniversary", Lakeland (FL) Ledger, August 7, 1983, p5B U.S. envoy Sumner Welles arrived in Havana to offer President Machado safe passage out of the country if he would resign his office."U.S. Asks President Of Cuba To Resign", Pittsburgh Press, August 8, 1933, p1 Born: Joe Tex (Joseph Arrington Jr.), African-American soul singer; in Baytown, Texas (died 1982)
August 9, 1933 (Wednesday) President Machado of Cuba decreed that "a state of war" existed throughout the island nation, and ordered troops to report to Havana to defend the capital city. Machado had been granted dictatorial power two days earlier by a vote of the Cuban congress."Cuba Placed in State of War; See U.S. Envoy's Plea Ignored", Spokane (WA) Spokesman-Review, August 10, 1933, p2 Born: Yoshinobu Oyakawa, Japanese-American swimmer and 1952 Olympic gold medalist; in Kona, Hawaii
August 10, 1933 (Thursday) Midget car racing was inaugurated with the first professional race of the small cars with large engines, taking place at the stadium of Loyola High School in Los Angeles.Gordon Eliot White, Offenhauser: The Legendary Racing Engine and the Men Who Built It (MotorbooksInternational, 1996) p81 All U.S. national monuments (including the White House), national cemeteries, and historical battlefields were placed under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior.Curt Johnson and Richard C. Anderson Jr., Artillery Hell: The Employment of Artillery at Antietam (Texas A&M University Press, 1995) p xv Born: Doyle Brunson, American poker player, winner of World Series of Poker in 1976 and 1977; in Longworth, Texas (died 2023)
August 11, 1933 (Friday)
The Simele massacre was carried out by the Iraqi Army against the unarmed Assyrian Christians living in the town of Simele, on orders of General Bakr Sidqi. The unarmed men of the town, including teenaged boys, were sought out and shot by soldiers with machine guns. According to the army report later, the bodies of 305 men, 4 women and 6 children were disposed of the next day. General Sidqi was celebrated as a national hero after his return to Baghdad.Ronald Sempill Stafford, The Tragedy of the Assyrians (G. Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1935, reprinted by Gorgias Press LLC, 2006) pp159-162;"300 Assyrians Slain; London Takes Action", Regina Leader-Post, August 17, 1933, p10 Born: Jerry Falwell, American evangelist and conservative political activist; in Lynchburg, Virginia (died 2007) Jerzy Grotowski, Polish innovator in experimental theater; in Rzeszów (died 1999)
August 12, 1933 (Saturday) Winston Churchill made his first public warning of the dangers of German rearmament.
Gerardo Machado, the dictator of Cuba, fled from Havana by airplane with three aides, as mobs raged through the city. He was replaced by former Ambassador to the U.S. Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. Hours earlier, a mob had broken into the presidential palace and sacked it."MOBS RIOT AS MACHADO FLEES; PALACE SACKED IN TERROR REIGN", Pittsburgh Press, August 13, 1933, p1